A collection of humorous, touching, and always thought provoking articles from various sources.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Why is there Evil?

"I sought whence evil comes and there was no solution", said St. Augustine, and his own painful quest would only be resolved by his conversion to the living God. For "the mystery of lawlessness" is clarified only in the light of the "mystery of our religion". The revelation of divine love in Christ manifested at the same time the extent of evil and the superabundance of grace. We must therefore approach the question of the origin of evil by fixing the eyes of our faith on him who alone is its conqueror. (CCC 385)
If God the Father almighty, the Creator of the ordered and good world, cares for all his creatures, why does evil exist? To this question, as pressing as it is unavoidable and as painful as it is mysterious, no quick answer will suffice. Only Christian faith as a whole constitutes the answer to this question:
• The goodness of creation,
• The drama of sin and the patient love of God who comes to meet man by his covenants,
• The redemptive Incarnation of his Son,
• His gift of the Spirit,
• His gathering of the Church,
• The power of the sacraments
• His call to a blessed life to which free creatures are invited to consent in advance,
• They can also turn away in advance.
There is not a single aspect of the Christian message that is not in part an answer to the question of evil. (CCC 309)